Upgrade

by Blake Crouch

And I was struck again with the awareness that I was alive in strange times. There was a palpable sense of things in decline.

We lived in a veritable surveillance state, engaged with screens more than with our loved ones, and the algorithms knew us better than we knew ourselves.

“The greatest threat to our species lies within us.”

“It’s denial. Selfishness. Magical thinking. We are not rational beings. We seek comfort rather than a clear-eyed stare into reality. We consume and preen and convince ourselves that if we keep our heads in the sand, the monsters will just go away. Simply put,

we refuse to help ourselves as a species. We refuse to do what must be done. Every danger we face links ultimately back to this failing.”

“Life never really goes the way you want or expect. Usually, even getting exactly what you want turns out not to have been what you really wanted. So, my son, if you ever find a sliver of happiness and peace, just be thankful and live. Don’t reach for more, because a sliver is more than most people ever find.”